The use of epidurals and pain relieving drugs during the labor and delivery process can desensitize the birthing mother from experiencing the natural body signals needed to push the baby through the birth canal and thereby ultimately delay the progression of childbirth. One indication of this phenomenon is that in modern times, there has been a dramatic increase in the incidence of children born by Cesarean childbirth. This form of child birth significantly increases the cost to the healthcare system when compared to a natural vaginal delivery. In addition, the birthing mother needs significantly more time to recover from a Cesarean operation compared to a natural vaginal child delivery.
While prior apparatus and methods like those disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publications 2007/0031466 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,673,633 provide stable support for the soft perianal tissues near the anal orifice, these can be further improved to provide additional benefits for labor management to decrease the incidence of Cesarean childbirth. More specifically, there are no currently available devices and methods that permit a healthcare provider to actively manage the labor and birthing process to promote a higher incidence of vaginal births and, if desired in certain situations, manage the labor process to avoid potential lifelong damage to the mother such as pelvic floor injuries and anal sphincter damage.
Thus, there is a need for devices and methods permitting the management of the child birthing process to encourage vaginal child birth to reduce the incidence of Cesarean childbirths.